Our Share of Problems
by Jake Nickleby
Summary: On the cusp of adolescence, Neil is faced with an obstacle that could take a toll on his relationship with Norman. Desperate to hang onto his only companion, Norman exerts everything in his will to maintain their kinship. But Norman starts to blame himself when a problem of his own hinders his efforts to be there for Neil. Sharing problems is easier said than done.


Disclaimer: All characters, events, and material related to _ParaNorman_ are owned by Chris Butler and LAIKA.

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Currently looking for Cover Art commissions.

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Testimonials for _Sandbox_

Thank you to _Cerulean Pen_, _iwouldntbesosure_ (Guest), _Be My Master_, _KaryLee_, and _CasperxDaisyxRa_ for the reviews! Thank you to _KaryLee_, _insanityintheflesh_, _Be My Master_, _Saphirabrightscale_, _phantomworks_, _ZRMS_, _Helbindi_, _CasperxDaisyxRa_, _iamgoku _, and_ CalynnTheDeltoranOlympian_ for adding to your Favorite Stories! Thank you to _Saphirabrightscale_, _MangaAndAnimeFairy_, _CasperxDaisyxRa_, and _iamgoku_ for adding to your Story Alert! Thank you to _CasperxDaisyxRa_ and _iamgoku_ for adding my pen name to your Favorite Authors, as a result of this story! Thank you to _Be My Master_, _Saphirabrightscale_, _CasperxDaisyxRa,_ and _iamgoku_ for adding my pen name to your Author Alert, as a result of this story! I genuinely appreciate all of your support.

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Warning: This chapter contains mentions Irritable Bowel Syndrome. bullying, vomiting, blood, and description of a potentially life-threatening illness. Please reconsider reading this chapter if you are sensitive to this type of content.

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Chapter One: Pancolitis

There was nothing special about Neil Downe. At least, on the outside he wasn't. He was just a chubby kid with frizzy red hair and freckled skin. His allergies made his eyes leak, he sweated when he walked too fast, and he carried a lunch box with a kitten on it. Oh, and he had Irritable Bowel Syndrome. What you saw was what you got, nothing more and nothing less. That's what everyone thought of Neil Downe.

He wasn't anything like his friend Norman Babcock, who only looked ordinary on the surface but harnessed a very unique gift inside of him. A gift that very few people accepted him for. There was more to him than what met the eye, but nobody liked him for it. That's what most people thought of Norman Babcock.

And so the not-so-special boy did not-so-special things with his sort-of-special friend, like playing "go fetch" with an imaginary dog and watching B-rated zombie movies. He liked to eat not-so-special snack food and attended a not-so-special school. What you saw was what you got, nothing more and nothing less. That's what everyone thought of Neil Downe. Well, _almost _everyone.

No matter how much anyone tried to argue, Neil Downe _did_ possess a special gift. Something that no one has ever shown Norman before. Neil had optimism, passion, but most importantly, he had loyalty. To Norman, that was the most valued quality in a person. That was Neil's special gift. If he was the only person willing to show Norman that gratitude, then Norman was okay with that.

Neil was Norman's first friend.

Neil only had one friend before Norman. Her name was Salma Ramsey, and although she was in the same grade as they were, she was a year younger than the rest of them. She had skipped a grade due to her phenomenal intelligence. Most of her time was spent on her academics; entering in countless state-wide competitions and winning practically every single one of them. The rest of her time was spent on trying to get Neil to stay away from bully magnets such as Norman Babcock.

Salma and Neil were just as much as social outcasts as Norman was, and Salma didn't want Neil to get involved. Yet Neil was still interested in the peculiar eleven-year-old, so he befriended him. It wasn't very easy to do so. Norman would keep coming up with the same excuse: "I keep telling you, Neil. I like to be alone."

To which Neil would respond with, "So do I! Let's do it together."

It wasn't until the anniversary of Blithe Hollow's most-famous "witch's curse" that Norman finally recognized the loyalty in Neil that he had come to cherish. After that night, Norman started hanging out with Neil a bit more. Salma didn't have much time for Neil anymore, as her studies became very serious once seventh grade hit. So to fill up his free time, Neil began inviting Norman over to play with Bub, his ghost dog. In return, Norman started inviting Neil to his house to watch his favorite horror films.

The days of middle school seemed to roll on by. Neil and Norman had been practically inseperable since they formed their bond in sixth grade. Now the pair were closing in on their completion of seventh grade, with just a couple of more months to go. Neil turned thirteen in late February, with Norman's birthday to follow in mid-June. They already mapped out their summer plans together, consisting of little else than dog shows for the deceased and monster movie marathons.

Norman was actually looking forward to it... Though neither of the boys expected the twisted turn of events that came at the end of April.

Since the day Norman and Neil fell into routine with each other's friendship, they would always walk to school together in the morning. Norman would wait outside on his front steps for Neil, and then he would walk the rest of the way to school with Norman by his side. Today was not unlike any other. Norman was still waiting for Neil to arrive at his house, just like it was any other weekday.

But as fate would have it, something out of the ordinary had to change everything.

Norman could sense that there was something wrong with his best friend, even when he was a whole block away from where he was standing. It was just supernatural for Neil to _not_ be cheerful. So when his chubby friend came up to him that day looking pale and tired, Norman couldn't help but voice his concern.

"Neil?" he said hesitantly. "Are you... okay?"

"I'm fine," Neil heaved, sweat trailing down the side of his face as he glanced at the ground. Of course him sweating wasn't generally a problem, but he was moving slower than a snail. Not to mention that it looked like he was about to have an asthma attack, which wouldn't be too far from the truth. It was part of his long list of health issues.

"Maybe... you should go home and call in sick," Norman suggested kindly.

"Norman," he insisted, "I'll be okay!" He beat a fist to his chest. "I'm tougher than I look." A glint of courage shined through his eyes, and Norman chuckled.

The Babcock boy let it go for now, but at lunchtime, red flags started to appear again. They sat at their usual spot in the courtyard, settling in to eat their meal after escaping the crazy food line in the cafeteria. Norman handed Neil the bag of chips that came with his sandwich order, just like he did everyday. This was their routine.

"Thanks, Norman," Neil politely declined. "But I'll pass." He noticed Norman giving him a strange look. "What?"

"You... don't want my chips?" Norman asked, confused.

"I'm just not hungry," Neil explained away.

"Not... hungry..." Norman repeated slowly. He looked down at Neil's own lunchbox, unzipped and opened, but left untouched. Inside was a homemade sandwich, an apple, a handful of whole wheat crackers, and a dip which Norman assumed was spicy hummus.

Norman looked away, saddened, but once again, left the matter alone. If Neil was still looking sickly by the time they walked back home together, maybe Norman could convince him to take the day off from school tomorrow.

The lunch bell rang, separating the boys as they went to their own classes for the remainder of the school day. Though he liked the other boy's company, Norman was grateful to have the last two periods of the day to himself. The time alone gave him time to think without Neil talking his ear off. It was his time of the day to work out some problems in his head, and his problem for the day was to figure out a way to help his sick friend.

Norman didn't see Neil at his locker after school. He wainted a good fifteen, twenty minutes before he pulled out his cell phone. There, he saw a text message left by Neil. _Went home early. Sorry. See you tomorrow?_ Norman looked away, a little disheartened. Something was up with Neil, and it worried him.

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Neil squeezed himself in between the bathtub and the toilet, blanket wrapped around himself, feeling his chest shudder as he breathed heavily through his mouth. He had been sitting like this all evening long, not long after he had gotten home from school. The queasiness in his stomach didn't allow him to leave the bathroom. If he tried, then he found the need to vomit or get the runs again.

"Neil?" he heard his brother's muffled shout through the bathroom door, knocking his knuckles on the wooden surface. "You okay? Been in there for a while now... Better start talking, little buddy!"

"I'm _f-fine_, Mitch!" Neil yelled out, feeling his insides twisting up as he spoke. He unwillingly retched in the toilet. Hopefully Mitch didn't hear that, or would ignore it. No such luck.

"Neil!" Mitch yelled.

"I said I'm _fine_, Mitch!" Neil yelled back. He really wished he hadn't done that right then. Why couldn't he stop vomiting? The doorknob rattled.

"Neil! Unlock the door!" he warned.

"Don't come in!" Neil pleaded, feeling a wetness roll down the side of his mouth.

The door bursted open, hitting against the wall with a bang. Mitch stared at Neil, shocked to see the blood dribbling down his chin. Then, without missing a beat, he pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. His fingers moved quickly over the screen.

"What are you doing?" Neil asked, panicked.

"Calling Mom and Dad," Mitch stated. "Then driving you to the ER."

"I told you, Mitch," Neil continued to fight back. "I'm_ fine_!"

"Yeah, well, you're not," Mitch protested. "No one vomits blood when they're fine."

"It's just a stomach bug!" Neil insisted.

"I hate to break it to you, buddy," his older brother warned. "But that's no stomach bug."

A shiver passed through Neil, and he hugged the blanket tighter around himself. He didn't want to admit to himself that Mitch was right, but he was running out of reasons to fight him on. What was worse, Neil wasn't even sure _why_ he wanted to believe that nothing was wrong.

Neil wished it was a normal afternoon. Squeezing his eyes shut, he imagined he was downstairs in the living room, watching horror movies with a bowl of potato chips in his lap. Sitting next to him was his best friend, with blue eyes and dark hair, and not the toilet seat pressed against his side. Just as the boy turned to him, giving him one of those small, rueful smiles of his, Neil felt Mitch's strong hands pull him away and out of the bathroom, guiding him down the stairs to his van parked outside.

Neil wished he was with Norman right now.

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It was bright and sunny the next morning. with birds chirping and flying across the orange sherbert sky. The street was pretty empty. It had been a few minutes since the last commuter past by, or a neighbor fetching their newspaper, and ghosts usually didn't roam on the street right outside his house. Seemed like a normal weekday morning to him. If it weren't for the fact that Neil hadn't come by yet.

Norman waited on the front steps of his house, kicking a pebble with the toe of his sneaker. He glanced at the time on his cell phone, wondering if Neil would show up today. If not, he would have to leave without him. Cupping his chin with his hand, Norman let out a sigh. Just a few more minutes...

The sound of squeaky wheels broke Norman out of his thoughts, and Norman lifted his head to see, not Neil, but his older brother. He recognized Mitch's van when it pulled up to the curb by his house. Out of all the cars he could have picked out, Mitch had to pick the exact replica of his poor, destroyed van... save for the paint job. Norman stood up and walked over to the van, peering through the open passenger window.

"Mitch..." Norman called faintly, eyes confused and curious. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, buddy..." Mitch started. "Neil's not gonna make it to school today. You need a lift?"

Norman worriedly looked down the street, hesitant, but then turn back to Mitch. Nodding his head, Norman silently opened the door and slipped into the passenger seat. He buckled his seat belt, and Mitch started to drive. Norman stared out the window in silence, as the older teen made no conversation for the first couple of minutes, but then Mitch suddenly spoke with his usual soft, gruff voice. Even so, it almost started Norman.

"Had to drive Neil to the ER last night," he said, not once taking his eyes off the road.

Norman made a noise, trying to say something, but he couldn't formulate a simple sentence; it was a whole bunch of questions bundled into one. Taking a moment to breathe, Norman finally settled on, "What happened?"

"The docs thinks it's an appendicitis," Mitch explained.

Norman's eyebrows furrowed together. "Is Neil going to be okay?"

"Once he's out of the hospital and recovered from his surgery, I'm sure he'll be fine." That was all Mitch had said, as he stalled the van right out front of Blithe Hollows Middle School. Norman slid out of the van.

"Thanks for the ride, Mitch," said Norman as he turned to shut the car door.

"Don't mention it," the high school senior told him before driving away.

School was a lonely existence without Neil. It was only for one, uneventful day, but it was still miserable for Norman. There was no one there walking beside him to his locker, or suffering through the required drama class with him, or eating lunch with him in the courtyard. He didn't even have Salma around to confide in, who was studying abroad for the semester.

A day became days, which became a week without seeing Neil. Mitch kept offering Norman rides to school, keeping the middle schooler updated on his little brother's situation. Most of the time, Norman would politely decline the offer, though he was glad to hear about Neil.

Norman's mom kept in touch with Neil's mom over the phone. Sometimes their conversations would last hours at a time, until Norman's father complained about the high phone bill at the beginning of the new month. In subsitution, Sandra went to visit Mrs. Downe in her home for some afternoon tea.

Neil wasn't well enough to return to school, but well enough to have Norman over for a visit. Neil would be sitting in bed, propped up by an enormous pile of pillows. Norman sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. Considering the situation, everything between the two friends was as normal as it always was. They laughed and traded comic books together, swapped hilarous stories with each other and shared Neil's special diet snacks.

Every now and then, Neil would have to vomit in the bucket he left by his bedside. Norman would look away, a little disturbed that he couldn't do anything for his friend, but when Neil was done, he smiled and continued laughing at his own story like nothing happened. Just like when they used to walk to and from school together, they fallen into a routine.

As routines are often followed, it was nothing new for Norman to wake up on Saturday morning, get dressed, eat a quick breakfast, and walk to Neil's house, where he planned on hanging out for the rest of the day. So, following routine, Norman casually walked into his family's kitchen and pulled open the fridge for the carton of orange juice.

"Ew, use a glass, Norman!" his older sister Courtney muttered in disgust about his attempt to drink directly from the carton. She handed the empty glass she held in her hand, before she strolled out of the kitchen.

His mother was cooking hash browns on the stove, dishing some out on a plate for her son. Using his sleeve to wipe away the excess liquid from his mouth, Norman slid the juice carton back into the fridge.

"I'm going over to Neil's house now, Mom," Norman informed her, ready to head out the back door. He missed his mother's worried gaze following him.

"Norman?" his mother called apprehensively. Norman stopped and turned around to face her. "I've got something to tell you..." she continued. "Neil's mom called this morning."

Norman stopped, turning around to see the troubled look that only his mother seemed to get right. She silently gestured him to sit at the dining table. The twelve-year-old became tense, but he obeyed his mother. She waited for him to settle in his seat before she started talking.

"Neil was rushed to the ER late last night," his mother disclosed.

"Wha-" Norman was shocked. "But _why_?"

"It turned out that he didn't have an appendicitis," she explained. Norman took a moment to absorb the information.

"Then what is it?" he asked urgently.

"We don't know yet," she said calmly.

Norman's face fell.

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With May falling into June, the school year was almost over. Norman had to finish seventh grade without Neil. It was tough on his own. He thought he never had to go relive sixth grade again. Neil had made quite an impact on Norman. Neil was temporarily moved back to his bedroom in his own house. They were sitting on his bed again, like they have been doing for more than a month, but neither of them were laughing this time. Soon, Neil would be back in the hospital for an indefinite amount of days.

"I'm going to need an implant," Neil explained simply, uncharacteristically without a smile.

Norman eyed his friend curiously. "Really?"

"Yeah," Neil responded. "I'm going to be flown to a specialist in Minnesota."

"When?"

"Sometime this summer," the red-haired teen informed.

Norman didn't have anything to say to that. Whatever the case, he wasn't going to spend his summer plans with Neil.

"I'm getting an artificial colon. The technology is still pretty new, so the doctors are not sure how I'm going to respond to treatment."

Neil kept talking, but Norman couldn't grasp onto the relief he was supposed to be feeling.

"The docs say it's going to solve a lot of my health problems if it's successful," Neil mused. He let out a humorless laugh, a sound Norman never thought he would hear. "I'd be kind of nice not to worry so much about my IBS anymore."

More silence was endured, and Norman decided to break it with a simple question. "Have you heard from Salma?" he wondered.

Neil shook his head. "Her parents won't let her come back home until the semester is done."

Norman looked out the window.

"She's really mad about it, actually," Neil supplied, letting out a chuckle.

When the Babcock boy didn't respond, Neil stared at him seriously. "Norman?"

Startled by Neil's voice, Norman tore his away from the window. He saw his friend's brown eyes studying him. He glanced away. "This... this isn't going to change us, will it?"

Neil's eyebrows warped with confusion. "What do you mean?"

Norman looked down at his lap fretfully. "I mean..." Neil seemed to catch on without him needing to say any more.

"Norman, you've got nothing to worry about!" Neil insisted, eyes brightening with his habitual optimism. "We'll _always_ be friends."

Norman looked up, his large ears perking at his words. "Really?"

Neil nodded. "Yeah..."

Norman smiled at that, but the sadness still remained in his eyes.

"Will you look after Bub for me when I'm gone?" Neil asked.

"Of course, Neil," Norman agreed, trying to muster a smile for the other boy. "That's what friends do..."

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End of Chapter One

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Author's Note: This was meant to be a prequel to my story, "Let's Be Freaks Together" (which I started way back in mid-September 2012, and will be posted after this one is completed). This derived from a sentence, explaining Norman and Neil's friendship in between the events of the film and the setting for the other story. That one single line ended up expanding into its own four-chapter publication.

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30 December 2013


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